Aaron Finch's impressive half-century on day one in Perth has shown himself and the sceptics he has a game that can stand up at Test level, according to Australia legend Ricky Ponting.

Finch shrugged of the criticism he wasn't up to opening the batting at the highest level with a composed 50 from 105 balls and six boundaries in a first-wicket stand of 112 with Marcus Harris at the Perth Stadium to give Australia a solid start in the second Domain Test.

The Victorian has worked relentlessly at his technique since earning a call-up to the Test side in October and underwent a tune-up with head coach Justin Langer and Ponting after scores of zero and 11 in Adelaide.

In the first innings at the Adelaide Oval, Finch was dismissed by a hooping in-swinger from India quick Ishant Sharma that splattered the stumps in spectacular fashion.

That type of delivery, one that veers into Finch's pads and stumps, has been a persistent problem throughout his career, but on Friday he was hell-bent not to be beaten on the inside of his broad bat.

So it was with a touch of irony that the right-hander, having seen off the new ball and reached his maiden half-century on Australian soil, was trapped lbw to a straight ball on his pads from awkward fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah.

But Ponting, who has questioned whether Finch would be better suited to batting in the middle-order, saw enough from Finch in Perth to suggest he can handle the rigours of opening the batting in Test cricket and have a bright future in the Baggy Green.

"What it showed today to everybody, and more importantly to himself, is that he has got a game that can stand up opening the batting at Test level," Ponting told cricket.com.au.

"He's been working hard on a few things over the last few weeks and I know Justin Langer did a lot of really good stuff with him in Adelaide on the night the (first Test) finished, a few balance things and few thing to take the weight out of his front leg and not fall so much across his stumps.

"He had a few moments today where he did that a little bit, but in general I thought he played really well.

"He looked to be aggressive, play the ball off the back foot, which is a really good sign for him. It means he's not getting onto the front foot too early.

"When you do go on the front foot too early you struggle to play back and miss out on a lot of scoring opportunities.

"He'd be disappointed to get out the way he got out after being 50 and batting a long period of time then missing a full, straight one."

Ponting and Finch worked closely together on match eve, both out in the middle of the colosseum-like stadium and the practice nets on its external perimeter.

The former captain, who has been a presence around the national side in the past 18 months, said he's sees the same technical issues in Finch as the ones he faced during his prolific career at international level – falling to one side and over-balancing on his front leg.

So Ponting was more than happy to pass on his vast expertise to Finch and continue the work Langer started in Adelaide.

"The way that he plays, looking to get forward and across his stumps, is sort of the way I played," he said.

"It was the little things that I had to work on right through my career, just to help out with my balance and 'un-weighting' my front leg if you like, to load up a bit of weight on my back foot and making one move into the ball rather than trying to make two or three movements.

"The most important thing with Aaron is that I'd rather see him being beaten on the outside of the bat, not the inside of the bat.

"If he thinks about staying leg-side of the ball and not over-committing to the line too early then I think he's got a very bright future at Test level."

But what impressed Ponting the most was how quickly Finch absorbed the feedback and put it into practice.

"From Adelaide, in both innings there where he was undone by big in-swinging deliveries, to be able to come out today and look pretty much at ease early on against the in-swinging ball goes to show that he can do it," Ponting said.

"That's more of the reason why he'd be upset at getting out the way he did.

"He'd done the hard work against the new ball and where batting should have been at its easiest is where he got out.

"But, that's the thing I'm most pleased of that he's shown everyone a game and technique that can stand up in pressure."